Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been cleared to reestablish a presence on Rikers Island, per an executive order handed down by the Adams administration.
New York City, NY — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has resumed its presence at Rikers Island, New York City’s main jail complex, as concerns mount over the infiltration of a violent Venezuelan gang within the city’s correctional system.
The renewed federal involvement comes after law enforcement officials flagged increased activity by members of the gang Tren de Aragua, a criminal organization that has spread rapidly across Latin America and into parts of the U.S., including New York. ICE’s return follows the 2023 arrest of an alleged gang member on Staten Island, intensifying scrutiny around the group’s growing footprint in the region.
City and federal authorities are particularly worried about the potential for gang recruitment and coordination within Rikers Island, which houses thousands of inmates and has long struggled with safety and oversight issues.
While ICE has operated intermittently at Rikers in the past, this move marks a more direct intervention in response to national security concerns tied to transnational criminal networks.
Critics, however, are raising red flags about the implications for immigrant detainees. Immigrant advocacy groups argue that ICE’s involvement risks escalating fear among undocumented inmates and could lead to profiling and unnecessary detentions. “This isn’t just about gangs—it’s about ICE using public safety as a pretext to target vulnerable communities,” said Karla Montes, an attorney with the New York Immigrant Rights Coalition.
Mayor Eric Adams’ administration has yet to publicly comment on the development, though sources inside City Hall say coordination between local and federal agencies is increasing as gang-related threats rise.
ICE, for its part, maintains that its presence is focused strictly on identifying individuals with serious criminal records who pose a risk to public safety. “We are working to ensure that dangerous individuals, particularly those affiliated with violent transnational gangs, are not released back into our communities,” an ICE spokesperson said in a statement.
The return of ICE to Rikers adds a new layer of controversy to an already embattled facility, which is slated for closure by 2027 amid widespread criticism over inhumane conditions and inmate deaths.
Whether this move signals a longer-term federal role in the city’s corrections system remains to be seen—but for now, it’s reigniting debates about the balance between public safety and immigrant rights in one of the nation’s most complex urban landscapes.